Jason Whitton doesn’t graduate from Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy until June, but he already has a job lined up as a “floater” for Safeway pharmacies throughout the mid-Willamette Valley.

In today’s tight job market, many college graduates spend months applying and interviewing for jobs. In Whitton’s case, companies were fighting for him.

“They recruit very aggressively. They come after you,” the former Hillsboro resident said.

Salaries for pharmacists usually start around $90,000, Whitton said, and the career offers excellent mobility, flexible hours and good benefits.

Despite the many perks of the job, industry officials say the nation is facing a troubling shortage of pharmacists.

“We have an aging population, and there’s more we can do with drugs than in the past,” said Gary DeLander, associate dean of OSU’s College of Pharmacy. “Our graduates have no problem finding jobs. They usually have their choice of several positions.”

OSU’s College of Pharmacy admits about 80 students per year. These numbers are between 5 and 10 percent higher than enrollment counts a few years ago, a response to growing marketplace demand.

At OSU, students must have at least three years of undergraduate studies before entering the four-year Doctor of Pharmacy program. Students spend the entire fourth year of pharmacy school gaining experience in various retail and hospital settings around the region.

After stints at the Salem Hospital and Providence-Medford, Whitton is currently stationed in an Albertsons pharmacy. And he still has four more rotations to complete before graduation.

Being a pharmacist is no longer a matter of just handing over bottles of prescribed medicines to patients. In recent years, the medical community has increasingly relied on pharmacists to help manage patient care.

“There’s lots of roles that doctors previously played that pharmacists and other health care providers are being asked to fill,” DeLander said.

For example, pharmacists often help doctors monitor disease states and treatment of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.

DeLander believes this mounting responsibility is due in large part to economics.

“Insurance companies want to use people at their highest level of competence,” he said.

But it’s also a testament to the abilities of pharmacy school graduates.

“The training and education of pharmacists has been increasingly recognized. The health care system has really embraced the different roles pharmacists can play,” according to DeLander.

Within pharmacy, there are more than 60 sub-specialities from which students can choose. From home health care to community pharmacies to hospital pharmacies to nuclear medicine, there’s a wide range of opportunities to explore.

Brandy Gibbs graduated from OSU’s College of Pharmacy in 2000. The Eugene native now works at Sav-On pharmacy in the Corvallis Albertsons.

Prior to taking her current position, Gibbs worked at a Rite-Aid pharmacy where she interned as a student.

Gibbs said it took one phone call to land a job, and she had at least three other offers from which to choose.

“People were lining up with job offers,” she said.

While the money is a definite draw, Gibbs also appreciates that her career allows for constant interaction with people. She said it’s rewarding to help customers make decisions that improve their health and quality of life.

At a glance

About OSU’s Pharm.D. program: The College of Pharmacy offers a four-year program leading to a doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. To apply, students must complete the pre-pharmacy curriculum, which involves about three years of undergraduate study. Students spend the first two years at OSU and the third year at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. The fourth year is spent gaining supervised, on-the-job experience. Graduates are eligible to become licensed pharmacists throughout the United States.

Before getting in: Among the pre-pharmacy courses that students need to complete before beginning the professional program are chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, cell and molecular biology, microbiology, calculus, statistics, physics, human physiology and biochemistry. A bachelor’s degree is not required for admission to the Pharm.D. program. However, students must earn a bachelor’s degree prior to entering their third professional year. Once admitted, students take additional classes in anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacy law and practices and health care.

Job prospects for graduates: Outstanding, as the demand for pharmacists has exploded due to the rapid growth of the health care and pharmaceutical industries, and the growing senior population. More prescriptions are being written than ever before, thus increasing the need for pharmacists to counsel patients and work with physicians, nurse practitioners and other health care providers. One job listing on the college’s Web site noted starting pay of $50-$55 an hour.

Source: http://pharmacy.oregonstate.edu

By the numbers

7.4 percent

The pharmacy vacancy rate reported by the American Hospital Association as of December 2004

157,000

The number of unfilled pharmacy openings by 2020 as predicted by the Pharmacy Manpower Project

The Associated Press